#LanaSpeaks: REcap of #Ignite2012 (#IgnitePhilly) [PHOTOS]

“Well, should Obama be the president of Black America?” –This question has been raised increasingly since the 2008 Presidential election, and it was now being posed to a group of writers, entertainment personalities, and hip-hop artists on a breezy Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.

This controversial topic was one of many during the first panel of the day for the final stop on the Ignite 2012 tour. Panelists included, hip-hop journalist Dream Hampton, former host of BET’s 106 & Park, Rocsi Diaz,  SOURCE Magazine, Editor-In-Chief, Kim Osorio and many other community leaders and activists.

“Could Obama do more? Yes,” Rocsi Diaz interjected, but, she’s happy with the work that the president has done for the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The president signed The White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 2010 which included a proposed $98 million increase to funding for HBCU’s. Diaz added that Governor Mitt Romney is very open about the demographic he represents and serves and that there is nothing wrong with the President supporting African Americans.

Panelist Deion Jordan, a seventeen-year-old young leader and member of The Philadelphia Youth Commission, entered the conversation claiming that Blacks in America need to see themselves not as “Black Americans” but as Americans.

“I consider myself an American. Race is philosophical nonsense,” Jordan added.

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